


The Boiling Point

by orphan_account



Series: After the Rain [3]
Category: The Dark Crystal (1982), The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance (TV)
Genre: Childbirth, Drama, Established Relationship, F/M, Family Drama, Family Fluff, Light Angst, Maudra Argot(mentioned), Parent-Child Relationship, Pregnancy, Stonegrot - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-08
Updated: 2019-11-17
Packaged: 2021-01-25 07:08:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 8,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21352240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Rian and Deet are eager to welcome their little bundle from Thra at any time now. But when Deet goes into labor in the middle of a violent storm, Rian is forced to brave the elements to seek out help from Maudra Argot. Will Rian be able make it there in time? Or are he and Deet up the creek on this one?My take on the birth of Jen. Now complete!
Relationships: Deet & Rian (Dark Crystal), Deet/Rian (Dark Crystal)
Series: After the Rain [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1527956
Comments: 22
Kudos: 59





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> K few things:
> 
> First off, I'm a wee bit overwhelmed with all the love I've been getting for my stonegrot parenting stories lately. Seriously, thank you! I'm glad you guys seem to be enjoying these just as much as I am writing them! <3
> 
> Secondly, I still want to expand "Does Anybody Have a Map" into a collection of oneshots at some point, but when I was writing this I got a bit carried away and wanted to make it multi-part (planning 2 chapters and an epilogue) so I decided to make this a standalone story instead of combining it with that one like I had initially planned on.
> 
> Thirdly, as with all the other stories in my "After the Rain" series, this takes place after "These Things Do Happen" but it's not necessary to have read that story to enjoy this one. Just know that in this canon Rian and Deet lost their first child and you should be good to go.
> 
> ok that's enough. Onwards to story!

_Fifty, Fifty-one, Fifty-two, fifty-three, fifty-four, fifty-five..._

Rian thrummed his fingers on his arm, counting the seconds that ticked by as he watched the rain pour down out the window.

_Fifty six, fifty seven, fifty eight, fifty nine..._

He heard Deet make another low moan and he turned around to see her rubbing a hand over her belly from where she sat in her chair...another contraction, right on cue.

“That’s 5 minutes apart now. I should really go...” he said beginning to make for the door.

“N-no not yet...” she said through a grimace, waving the hand that wasn't clutching her belly at him to stay.

“Maudra Argot said to get her when they were around 5 minutes apart...”

“Yes but the storm...just wait a few more minutes to see if it clears any. Besides, they're...they're really not that bad yet...”

The way she said those last words through gritted teeth made him severely doubt that they were true. He sighed and returned to his post by the window, crossing his arms as he watched the rain beat down and the trees sway violently in the wind.

Deet had started having contractions earlier in they day, though they’d started out mild and easy to manage. She said that they were like ‘little waves’ rolling through her body and she actually got excited when she felt one, because she said it meant that their childling was on its way. Maudra Argot had told them the last time they saw her that this early stage of labor tended to last for a while-sometimes all day, so Deet was free to do almost anything she wanted as long as she stayed rested. He and Deet had spent most of the day at home with an air of nervous excitement about them, enjoying their last day together as a family of two. It was surreal for Rian to think that in just a few hours...he'd have a son: that was if Deet was right in her insistence that it was a boy, which Rian was a little skeptical of. But he didn't care either way, he'd love any childling of theirs no matter what gender it was.

The plan was for Rian to run and get Maudra Argot once things started to ramp up...but something none of them had counted on was this storm. It had started as a light drizzle in mid-afternoon, but grew in strength and intensity almost in the blink of an eye. And by the time the night fell over Thra, it had morphed into as big of a raging downpour as Rian had ever seen. The rain pelted down in thick, heavy sheets and the forest trees groaned and creaked as they were swayed back and forth by the whipping wind. Lightening flashed across the night sky too, sending waves of thunder reverberating off the trees, coming closer and closer all the time.

Getting out in this was one of the last things Rian desired to do but... he knew that something had to be done. As the storm grew in strength and intensity, so too did the ‘little waves’ rolling through Deet’s body until they were not quite so little anymore, and he could tell that she was doing all she could not to cry out as the peaks of them crashed over her. It was clear that she needed Maudra Argot and soon. But despite her growing pain she kept insisting for Rian to wait just a little longer, hoping that the storm might clear up. But the relentless pounding of rain on the cottage roof like a blacksmith’s hammer at the forge had long since worn away any hope Rian had of it clearing up even a little. And she was getting worse all the time...

"I'm going to have to go at some point Deet..." he said.

"I know, but...it's just so awful out there! What if you lose your way in the dark, or get hit with something? I don't want you to get hurt..."

Rian chuckled softly to himself before turning around to approach her. "Here you are having a baby and you’re worried about me of all things... you should try being a little selfish sometime, love. I think you’ve earned it.”

Her eyes clouded over, and she looked down at her hands, fidgeting with the fabric of her dress. "I am selfish though...more than you realize. I’m worried about you getting hurt of course, but mainly I want you to stay because... I don’t want to be alone when the baby comes...”

His expression softened and he swept one of her silvery braids out of her face, “You won’t be alone though. I’ll get Maudra Argot here, and she’ll take good care of you. And I’ll be with you too if you want-I know she told me I couldn’t be in the room, but if you want me there I wouldn’t let Mother Aughra herself stop me!” He brought his hand up to cup her cheek. “I’ll make sure you’re not alone. I promise.”

A little smile of reassurance washed over her face and she leaned into his touch before her smile abruptly changed into a grimace. He bent down to her in concern, but she peeled his hand off of her.

“I-I’m fine. just a little uncomfortable is all... keep talking Rian. It helps me keep my mind off of it. Tell me a story or something...”

He blinked. “A story? what about?”

“I don’t care... Anything really. Just keep talking... _please_.” that little note of desperation in her last word wasn’t lost on him.

He stifled the wave of panic that was steadily rising inside of him as he racked his mind for something to talk about. A rumble of thunder outside brought an idea to him and he found his mouth moving almost on its own, “Storms like these make me think of the stories my father used to tell me about the Stonewood hero who wielded the horn of thunder... Have I ever told you about him?”

“I don’t think so...” she said looking up at him expectantly. He circled around so that he stood behind her, parting her silvery braids to lie in the front so he could rub her shoulders as he went on.

“Well, he was the strongest warrior of all Stone-in-the-Wood and said to be fearless in battle...His enemies would tremble when they saw him approaching.”

“...He sounds fierce.”

“Yes, but that’s not all he was...he would never use his sword if he could solve his problems with his head or his hands instead, and he was kind too.”

“Oh?”

Rian nodded. “He loved every creature of Thra, great and small- he only fought because he loved them more than he hated violence. And in his journeys he was constantly helping animals...“ he smiled softly, and gave one of her braids an affectionate stroke, “Reminds me of someone else I know...”

He saw her peel her ears back as she ducked her head modestly.

“And there’s one other thing too...” he said as another rumble of thunder sounded in the distance, “They say he was born in the middle of a lightening storm...”

She tilted her head back to look at him, eyes piqued with curiosity, “really?”

“So they say,” he said, resting his hands on her shoulders.

She turned her head to glance out at the window, rubbing a hand over her belly, "I hope his parents were in better straits than we are..."

"...me too."

Suddenly, he felt her tense under his hands again. Another contraction no doubt, but this time it was accompanied by a crisp popping sound, like the crack of a knuckle.

"oh-oh no..." he heard her say as she looked down at her lap. He craned his head over her shoulder to see what it was. There was a clear, viscous liquid pooling between her legs and beginning to soak through her dress. At first glance, he thought that she'd had an accident, but his breath hitched when he realized what it actually was: her water broke.

They both froze in place like spooked landstriders as more of the liquid gushed out of her, beginning to trickle down and puddle onto the floor. Rian sprung up, his spine straight as a rod. That was it. This baby was coming whether the storm let up or not, and they couldn’t afford for him to wait around any longer.

"That's it. I'm going now." he said, beelining for the his traveling cloak that hung on a wooden peg on the wall by the door.

"...ok." she said softly, a note of fear in her tone.

He fasted his cloak around his shoulders before bending down to light the rusted, old lantern they kept by the door. He picked it up in one hand and rose up to crack the door open with the other, the chill wind cutting into his skin as he paused in the doorway. Before he could venture out his ears were perked by the sound of her voice.

"R-Rian?"

He spun around to face her and they both locked eyes.

"Be careful."

He nodded at her, then took in a deep breath as he stared into the storm outside._ All right,_ he thought, _Alone then_. And he headed out into the night.

* * *

As bad as he thought the storm had looked from the inside, it was even worse to be out in it. Rian pulled the hood of his cloak a little closer to his head, though it was doing little to keep him dry in this downpour. The going was slow as the ground was almost pure mud, and the wind gusts were so strong that he sometimes had to squat low to the ground until they passed, or else they would have blown him clean him over. He was having a hard time keeping to the path too, since the rusty lantern had been blown out by the wind some time ago, and it was tough trying to find the familiar signs and markers that he knew to look for during the day in the darkness. He had to be sure he was still on the path though, If he accidentally got off it chances were he wouldn't be able to find his way back in the storm... And this was no night to get lost in.

As far as Rian could tell however, he was on the right track. And if he was where he thought he was, he should be coming up to a fork in the path soon where Maudra Argot's cottage stood just a short walk to the left of...or at least it was a short walk in good weather. He wasn't sure how long he'd been gone now, because the constant beating of the wind and rain on his body made minutes feel like hours and he was exhausted already... But then, this was nothing compared to what Deet was going through now. And she was having to endure it all alone too...He picked up his pace as another rumble of thunder reverberated off the trees.

He kept going, squinting in the darkness as rain lashed at his face and trying to get a sense of where he was. He wished that he had Deet's grottan eyes right about now...Wait. Just up ahead there...was that...? Yes! There was the fork. Maudra Argot was just a little further ahead!

He started towards it, but didn't get far. In a split second, the night around him turned to day as an enormous bolt of lightening struck down on a towering old tree just next to the path, splitting the trunk in two and shooting sparks out into the rain. The force of the bolt made the ground shake, and the instantaneous clap of thunder was near deafening. The sound of splitting wood and falling timber followed as the tree started to come down right on top of him. Rian yelped and dove backwards out of the way, covering his head as he tumbled through the mud. He felt the ground shake again as the tree collided with the forest floor.

Rian took his hands off his head and looked up at the scene slowly, his ears still ringing from the initial clap of thunder. The tree had been split near the base, the stump still smoldering in the rain while the remainder of the trunk lay sprawled across the path in front of the fork. Rian felt his heart sink as he rose to his feet to survey the situation.

The trunk was nearly twice his height in it's width... far too thick for him to climb over, especially with how slick as it was in the rain. He could try and go off the path around it, but the surrounding ground was even muddier and slicker there than that of the path. Even if he could manage to cut through the surrounding forest without getting stuck in the mud, it was still almost pitch black. And chances were he might not be able to find the path again once he went off it, or at least it would take him a good while to do so... And how long would it take him to do all that? Much less to do the same thing on the return trip with Maudra Argot in tow? Deet needed help now... the baby could be coming that very second as he stood there in the mud, and she had told him that she was scared want to be alone...

Balling his hands into fists, Rian made up his mind and started back towards the cottage as fast as he could. Deet was all alone with the childling and she needed him... They both did.

* * *

Rian pushed open the cottage door with a groan, shutting it behind him as he leaned his weight back against it. He groaned again as he leaned his head back against it's wooden planks and caught his breath, shutting his eyes as he allowed his soaked body to take in the warmth of the room. But his eyes snapped open almost immediately when he heard Deet's voice calling out to him.

"Rian? Are you back?" He saw her shuffle into the doorway that connected their bedroom to the main room of the cottage, leaning her weight on the door frame as she supported her belly with one hand. She’d managed to change herself into a nightgown, and her searching eyes went wide when she saw the muddied state he was in... and that he was alone, "Rian! What happened? W-where's Maudra Argot?"

"I didn't make it past the fork. A tree came down across the path and I couldn't get around it..."

"So we're...?"

"...We're cut off."

For the second time that night they both froze. The only sounds in the room were the pounding of the rain on the thatched roof and his own heartbeat growing steadily more frantic in his ears as the gravity of the situation set in: The baby was coming... And they were on their own.

This time it was her that broke the silence, "...What are we going to do?"

He swallowed hard, his throat dry and chalky, "We're...just going to have to improvise I guess..." he let his muddied cloak fall to the floor and started making for the kitchen, completely forgetting his own tiredness. "...I'm going to boil some water."

She blinked, "Why?"

He stopped and furrowed his brow...why indeed? He didn’t actually know. "Because...That's what you do when babies are born right? You boil water...At least that’s what Maudra Argot told me that's what I was supposed to do."

She rolled her eyes at him “That’s just something they tell boys to do to keep them busy! Maudra Argot told me she was going to make you do it just so you stayed out of her hair when-Hhnngg...” She clutched at her stomach and slid down the length of the doorway to the floor as the force of another contraction made her legs give out from under her.

He was at her side in an instant, rubbing her arms until it passed. The contractions were getting worse now... soon enough she wouldn’t even be able to walk. He helped Deet to her feet and she leaned her weight on him as he walked her to the bed, neither of them paying any mind to the fact that that he was still sopping wet and caked with mud.

He helped her plop down on the side of the bed before spinning on his heel with intent to dart back to the living room. "Get settled. I’ll be right back.”

“Rian Wait!” She caught him by the wrist, and he looked down at her. Her fingernails were white from the deathlike grip she had on his arm amd her voice quavered as she started to speak, “Rian I'm scared. What if...what if it’s like _before_?”

His breath hitched and his body tensed instantly. That very fear had been writhing in the back of his mind like a rat in a canvas sack all night. What if things went wrong tonight? After all, childbirth was a dangerous business and things went wrong all the time...It had already happened to them once. What if they lost this one too? Or worse...what if he lost them both? He felt his blood chill at the very thought, but shook himself out of it before he could dwell on such an evil idea any further.

“It won’t be like that.” He said.

“H-how do you know?...I mean-what if I can’t do it? What if I'm not strong enough to-”

“Don’t Deet. Don’t even think that.” He cut her off, his tone harsher than he intended. He took a deep breath, trying to steady himself. He had to stay calm... She needed him to be calm now. He bent down on his knees, and gripped her by the arms.

“Look, this isn't going to be anything like before. Know why? Because I know _you_." He said, rubbing her arms up and down, "Not strong enough? No. Don't even think that for one second. You're one of the strongest gelfling I've ever known. If anyone can do this it's you..." He brought a hand up to cradle her face.

"I know this isn't exactly how we wanted tonight to go...but the two of us have been in tight spots together before, and we’ll get through this same as we always do. Except this time when we’re done...there’ll be three of us.” He glanced down at her belly and then back up at her, “I'll help you do this, and I won’t let anything happen to either of you. We'll get through this together... All right?”

She looked back at him astonished, her brown eyes brimmed with tears and mouth slightly agape.

“...All right.” she said softly after a moment, ducking her head away from his hand and wiping at her eyes. When she raised her head again to look back at him he saw a flicker of determination beginning to glow behind her face and she gave him a sharp little nod. "_Together then_." she said.

He smiled and nodded in agreement, feeling a renewed sense of determination himself.

"Good." he said, "Now do you have any idea where that baby book Brea gave us is? I think it had a chapter about what to do in emergencies."

She moved back on the bed, settling down on the pillows to try and make herself as comfortable as she could be. “I-I left it on the kitchen table I think...”

He darted out of the room to go and grab it. As he left he heard her crying out in pain again and another clap of thunder rumbling outside. It was going to be a very long night. And it had only just started.


	2. Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: How dramatic should I make this chapter?
> 
> The Muse: Yes.
> 
> Part two is here as promised, and a little earlier than I thought! Keep reading to get straight back into the action. :)

Rian had found the book laying face down on the kitchen table, just where Deet said it was, practically tearing the cover off once he got his hands on it. He flipped it towards the back where he remembered briefly glossing over a section about what to do during birth if the caretaker couldn’t be reached. He tried to keep his shaking hands steady as he poured over every page like it was that of a sacred text-because in this moment it was.

Deet was right: there was nothing in it about boiling water. It did however, have some other useful suggestions which he committed to memory before springing back into action.

He gathered up some clean towels and rags for when the baby came and rekindled the dying fire in the bedroom fireplace to keep the room nice and warm. At some point he'd also managed to wipe the mud out of his face and hair and change into something dry, though he didn’t remember exactly when.

The night was increasingly becoming a blur to him and it was almost as if an outside force was operating his body rather than himself. He remembered a similar feeling when he'd been briefly possessed by the Ascendancy trine ago. It was an invasive, violating experience he never wanted to go through again, even after the creatures had become allies with the Resistance. But if those Arathim knew anything about how to deliver a childling, he would've gladly let them take the reins in that moment. He would’ve let any creature in Thra with even the foggiest idea of what it was doing take control of him if he thought it could help her.

When he finally rejoined Deet's bedside, he found that she had settled into the mattress by curling up on her side, bear-hugging a pillow as if it were the only thing keeping her afloat in a hostile sea.

He tried everything he could think of to help keep her comfortable-or at least as comfortable as she could be in her current state. He sat behind her on the bed and tried digging his thumbs into her shoulders and back to see if it would help take some of the pressure off. He offered her a clean rag to bite down on but she declined it, preferring to squeeze her pillow instead. And when all else failed, he offered her his hand to hold.

Try as he might though, nothing he did seemed to help all that much when the contractions came crashing over her, closer and more intense than ever before now. He winced each time he felt her body tense under his hands, and each time she buried her head into her pillow to muffle a scream.

The storm outside was even wilder than when he’d been out in it too-if that was even possible. The rain pelted down on the roof like pellets of gravel, and spikes of lightening bulged in the sky like angry white veins. He felt guilty for it, but he found himself thankful when a the lightening would send a particularly loud rumble of thunder ringing out, because it would drown out the sounds of her pain.

It made him ache to see her like this, but there really wasn’t much else he could do for her at this point. It was all a waiting game now. A slow, painful game with no end in sight.

He wished he could tell how far along she was, so he would know how much longer to expect this to go on. The book had some instructions on how to tell, and he tried checking her. But he'd never been trained in healing and didn't have much knowledge of female anatomy beyond the basics; he didn't really know what he was looking at-much less what he was supposed to be looking for. And it certainly didn't help that the book was lacking diagrams too.

At some point however, he remembered her saying that listening to him talk helped keep her mind off of it. So... he started talking.

Normally in their relationship it was she who was the talkative one and he who didn't have much to say, but tonight it was the exact opposite. He rambled on about anything and everything that popped into his anxious mind, his mouth moving like the spinning wheel of a runaway carriage in an effort to take her mind off everything.

It seemed to be helping her, as she stopped crying out as much when the contractions washed over her. She listened to him in near silence, squeezing her pillow in a death-grip and occasionally grunting or nodding in response to something he said. If their current situation wasn’t so dire, it might’ve almost been funny how drastically their roles had switched. Maybe they could laugh about it together when this was all over... He hoped that would be soon.

Eventually however, his constant chatter must have proved more grating than distracting, and she decided that she’d had enough. He had resumed his earlier position of sitting behind her on the bed, digging his thumbs into her back when she cut him off in the middle of whatever it was he'd rambling on about.

"...Rian?" she said, face down in the pillow with her voice muffled.

"...yes?” He said, stilling his hands on her.

She mumbled something into the bedding he couldn't quite catch.

"What was that love?"

She sat up and turned her head to glare at him and he found himself taken aback by the raw animosity in her expression. Her teeth gritted together like a millstone and her eyes were alight with barely contained hostility as she looked him straight in the face.

"Stop. Talking."

"...ok." He said peeling his hands away from her.

She resettled herself with a sigh. After a moment, he hesitantly brought a hand back to rest on her hip, petting it gently as a peace offering.

She jerked back from his touch, her wings stirring to life to smack him away from her. "And don't touch me either! When this is over-so help me I'm never letting you touch me again!"

"...ok." He said, feeling his ears peel back sheepishly on his head. If he had a tail, it would be between his legs.

She slumped back against the mattress, burying her head back into the pillow with a groan. “Why does this have to go on for so long? And why tonight of all nights...”

“Well...” he said, not certain if he was allowed to speak again or not, but trying his luck anyways. “You’ve got to hand it to our little one- It certainly has impeccable timing.”

“He.” She corrected him. “It’s a boy...I _know_ it’s a boy...”

“Right.” He said softly, “he...”

He tried to quiet himself down in earnest this time, since she had made it abundantly clear she wanted him to leave her alone. He let the room fade into near silence, the crackling of the fireplace and the raging of the storm outside the only sounds populating the scene-aside from the occasional moan from Deet. He resigned himself to a chair at the foot of the bed, idly bouncing his knee up and down and unsure of what to do with himself now that she’d banished his help.

Occasionally, when the contractions crashed over her she would hurl curses and insults at him, blaming him for her plight because it was his fault she was pregnant in the first place, and why oh why did she ever let him talk her into having a childling?

Rian didn't care though. She wasn't quite herself now, and he knew that she didn’t mean any of it... or at least most of it. Besides, she could call him a flat-nosed slug eater all she wanted if it would help her get through this unscathed.

Eventually her anger at him began to cool, and she regained enough tolerance for him to let him hold her hand again. He felt her tense in his grip as another contraction hit her, but this one was different from all the ones before it.

“Rian...something’s happening. It feels different this time...Oh Thra, it _burns_...”

Rian spring up on his feet. “All right-it’s all right. Here, let me see...”

He helped her shift around so that she laid on her back, legs spread apart towards him. He lifted up her nightgown and tried checking her agai-Oh Thra...Head. HEAD.

He could see the top of a head perched inside of her now, ready to begin its descent. Ok, it was happening._ Stay calm,_ He told himself..._STAY. CALM._

He took a deep breath to try and steady himself before he spoke to her. “I can see the head now... when the next one hits, you’re going to have to start pushing.”

He kicked himself for the panic he knew must’ve been written all over his own face when he saw the fear on hers. “This...this is good though,” he said, trying to build up her courage. “You're in the last leg now! It’s almost over.”

"R-right!" she said, bobbing her head in a nervous little nod. "He's almost here..." She managed a weary smile at the thought and he could see a hint of the determination from earlier creeping back into her eyes.

He nodded in response, feeling her determination flowing over Into himself. _All right,_ he told himself, _this is it._ He grabbed one of the towels and scooted his chair closer to the foot of the bed, while she propped herself up on her elbows, the air electric with anticipation as they waited for the other shoe to drop.

"Oh...Rian it's happening now."

He tried his best to guide her through it, remembering everything the book had said about how and when to direct her to push. He found himself amazed by the strength with which she endured it, even after already having gone through hours of pain. But the going was slow, and she was starting to fatigue from the intensity of her efforts, growing a little more worn each time she bore down.

"Rian!" She flopped flat on her back after a particularly hard one, strands of her silvery hair plastered to her forehead with sweat. Her voice was cracking, and her eyes brimmed with tears from the exertion. "I-I don't know if I can do it..."

"You can. I know you can."

"But I'm so tired...I don't know if I can keep going..." Her breathing was hard and shallow like she’d been running for her life, so hard that was almost hyperventilating.

"Breathe Deet. breathe." He sprang out of his chair and around to her side, grabbing a rag to dab away at the sweat on her forehead. He had to get her to calm down or she’d faint. "I know can do it, but you need to_ breathe_. You said they were like waves earlier right? So ride them... Here, breathe like me."

He took a few deep breathes to try and lead her and she followed suit while he kept dabbing at her forehead. When he felt satisfied that she had the hang of it, he returned back to his post at the foot of the bed.

She seemed to fare better after that, the next few pushes going smoother and she started making real progress as the time went by. He could see the head starting to make its way out now, and he noticed that it was covered in dark, Stonewood hair... like his. He fidgeted with the towel in preparation, trying to remember everything the book had said, running through the steps his mind like a checklist: Don’t pull on the childling, let it slide out to you. Hold onto it tight, newborns are slippery. Clean it off, before handing it to the mother. Should be simple enough right? Well, he'd find out soon enough.

Finally, with one last cry of effort from Deet, the childling slid out of her and into Rian’s waiting arms. She flopped back on the bed, panting with relief as Rian wrapped it up with the towel.

Rian gave a little laugh of triumph, as he held their little one for the first time, taking note that it was a boy.

"Deet... It's a boy. You were right!"

A soft smile of satisfaction washed over her face as she caught her breath. "I-I told you so..." She said in a voice that was faintly above a whisper.

Rian smiled too, reminding himself never to doubt her again. They had a son... He had a son now.

Deet scooted back slowly to prop herself back up in the bed, stretching her tired arms out towards Rian. "Give him here, I want to see him."

"Just a moment, let me finish cleaning hi-" Rian stopped speaking as an uncanny feeling of dread began to creep over him. He felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up at attention as a cold chill swept over his skin.

Something was wrong. He didn’t quite know what yet, but something was very, very wrong...He could practically taste it in the air...Wait. Weren’t childlings supposed to cry right after they were born? His son wasn’t. And weren’t they supposed to squirm around too? In fact he...he wasn’t really moving much at all...

Rian darted his eyes over the baby in his arms and felt his heart catch in his throat when he saw it: the cord. The cord that connected him to Deet was wrapped tight around his little neck like a noose... He couldn’t breathe..._ Oh dear Thra, he wasn’t breathing!_

Deet must have sensed his terror, as she leaned forwards, bobbing her head to try and see what was happening. “Rian what-”

Rian sprung into action, not waiting even a second to answer Deet. He untangled the cord with shaking hands, freeing his son’s neck from it’s stranglehold. But still, he didn’t stir. His tiny face was rapidly turning a sickly purplish-blue, and he felt limp like a ragdoll in Rian’s arms.

_No..._

_No.no.no.no.no.no.no.no.no.no.no.no.no.no.no.no.no.no.no.no.no.no.no.no.no.Please Thra, NO!_

Refusing to give up, Rian sprung back into action. He promised Deet he wouldn't let anything happen to this childling, and he meant it. He tucked his son into the crook of one arm and started rubbing his chest vigorously, trying to get his lungs working. Still nothing.

Rian was aware that Deet was crying out at him now, but he couldn’t hear what she was saying. He was so dialed in on trying to save their son that his mind didn’t have room to focus on anything else. Nothing else mattered now. His son was fading away right in his arms and he couldn’t let that happen... He _wouldn't_ let that happen.

Rian felt himself heave over the edge into full blown panic. Everything he’d read, everything the book had said was completely out the window. He was running on instinct and raw adrenaline now as he desperately tried to get his son to breathe. He was digging the heel of his palms into his son’s chest so hard that he feared he might be bruising him. Still nothing.

In an act of desperation, Rian brought his own mouth down over his son’s tiny nose and half-opened mouth and exhaled into it hard: anything to get some air into his little lungs. He started alternating that and rubbing his chest with the towel. He still wasn’t responding. Time seemed to slow down as everything else around him faded into the background. Each second ticking by like an hour on the hands of a slowly dying clock. All the while, Rian’s mind was running a thousand miles-an-hour, repeating the same prayer over and over with increasing desperation:

_Breathe. breathe. Come on son, breathe...Oh please Thra, let him breathe! PLEASE. Please no, not again..._

Rian was shaken from his actions by a sudden jolt of light. Outside, a bolt of lightening struck down, not unlike the one that had struck the tree at the fork in power and strength. It bathed the whole room in a split second of daylight, rattling the glass in the window panes and shaking the floorboards beneath his feet. Rian and Deet both yelped, though the instantaneous clap of thunder drowned out the sound. Rian jumped backwards, clutching the childling in his arms close to his body, terrified of dropping him.

Rian felt his heart racing in his ears as he locked eyes with Deet. That was too damn close. If that bolt didn’t strike the cottage, it had missed them by an inch. They were lucky...

The room went still then, the thunder fading away into a low rumble. Suddenly in the quiet, Rian’s ears perked up as a soft, little wail pierced the tense air. He saw Deet’s eyes widen and he followed her gaze down to the source of the sound: the bundle in his arms. He peeled back the towel around his son’s face and sure enough: he was crying.

_...He was all right._

_Oh thank Thra._ His prayers had been answered. The color was coming back into the childling's tiny face now too, returning to a healthy pinkish tone as he squirmed around in his father's arms.

He looked up at Deet, relief washing over her face along with a slow trickle of tears. She held out her arms towards Rian and he wordlessly obliged, placing the childling in her arms where he belonged.

She took her son gingerly, handling him like he was made of glass and drawing him up tightly against her breast, like she could never get him close enough. She ran a hand over his cheek and started shushing him, rocking him gently as she murmured words of comfort and reassurance.

Rian reeled back, finally allowing himself to breathe now too. He didn’t have words for the relief that flooded over him at that moment. It was like a thousand heavy boulders had been lifted from his shoulders all at once, leaving him lightheaded and almost delirious. In fact, he just...didn’t have words. He ran a hand up across his forehead and through the roots of his hair and left it there, his vision starting to fog over as he watched Deet soothing their son...

He heard a sound come out of his mouth, but he wasn't sure whether it was a laugh or a sob...probably both at once. Deet glanced up at him, her expression mirroring the one he imagined that he must be wearing himself; somewhere halfway between laughter and tears, and still twinged with hints of fear and adrenaline. But above all, completely filled with wonder and awe.

He bent down beside Deet's shoulders and craned his head to get a good look at his son's face while he rested against his mother's chest. The childling's sobs had faded to soft whimpers, and he was rubbing at his eyes that were open now, watery and dark. Rian smiled to himself as he recognized them... those were Deet's eyes.

He wrapped an arm around her back to squeeze her shoulder tight, pressing a deep kiss to the side of her head before bringing his own head to rest against hers. She did such an amazing job...Just like he knew she would. No other gelfling could have ever done it better. He was sure of it.

He could could hear the rumbles of more thunder bellowing outside, but they no-longer sounded as ominous as they once did to him. Rather it sounded like they were drifting away into the distance, fading away into clearer skies and new horizons.

After a moment he heard Deet make a sound that was unmistakably a laugh, tired and soft. "That... that really wasn't all that bad..." she said, stroking her son's face again.

Rian snorted. That was probably the understatement of the trine, especially on her part. He found himself laughing now too. "Yes, and to think..." he said, "I didn't even have to boil any water..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might have went a little overboard here, but oh well. Don't try Rian's newborn resuscitation technique at home. 
> 
> Epilogue coming soon-ish. Thanks for reading, comments appreciated! <3


	3. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! The conclusion to this story, in which Jen gets his name and I’m actually nice to Rian and Deet for once.
> 
> Enjoy!

“He definitely Favors you...” Said Deet, stroking a finger over the face of their son in her arms.

“He’s just been born. He favors a podling more than anything else,” said Rian. That earned him a little laugh from Deet and she rested her head on his shoulder. 

Rian had joined her on the bed, his back leaned up against the headboard while she rested her tired body against his like a pillow. 

Outside, the storm was finally clearing up. The pounding of rain against the roof had slowed to a gentle pitter-patter, and the rumbles of thunder were softer and fewer now, fading further and further into the distance all the time. The relief had come a few hours too late, but Rian couldn't find it in him to be bitter about that now. He had too much to be grateful for. 

Once the suns rose he might try venturing outside again to see if he could get around the tree at the fork, so that Maudra Argot could look Deet and the baby over. But Rian didn’t see any reason to rush out for that. Aside from that initial scare with the cord, their son was by all accounts perfectly fine now. Deet had even managed to nurse him for a while, and after the childling’s belly was full with his first meal he’d fallen down like a log. Rian understood why they called it “sleeping like a baby” now. Being born was a tiring business, evidently.

Rian smirked to himself as he stared down at his son fast asleep in Deet’s arms.  
She was right, he definitely favored his father. He’d heard that when the clans had been known to mix in the past, typically the childling would favor one parent or the other. That certainly proved to be true with their son. The boy looked Stonewood through and through with his dark hair and olive skin. He could almost be a younger, smaller version of Rian himself were it not for his eyes, dark and deep as the caves of Grot. Those were his mother’s beyond a shadow of a doubt. 

“Have you thought at all about names?” Asked Deet.

“No." Said Rian. It was funny, these past unums all he'd ever focused on was getting to this point, on having his family safe and sound. Now that it was finally here, Rian realized that names and the like had never even crossed his mind.

"We could name him after your father if you like..." said Deet.

Rian considered it, studying his son's face for a moment before shaking his head. "No. I'm not sure that 'Ordon' suits him. Seems a bit harsh, don't you think? What about one of yours instead?" 

“No." She was quick to answer. "If we pick one of my fathers names over the other, it might seem like we're playing favorites. And I don’t want to hurt either of their feelings."

"That's true..." Rian hadn't considered that. The last thing he wanted was to offend one of his fathers-in-law.

"We'll just have to think of something else then." She said, giving the childling a little bounce while he slept.

Rian lifted the corner of his mouth as he glanced down at her. "I think you should be the one to have that honor. After all, you did all the heavy lifting getting him here.”

She gave another little laugh. "That might be true, but I’m too tired to think of anything good...” She said, rubbing her head against his shoulder like an affectionate fizzgig. "And I think it should be you that names him. After all...you saved him."

Rian turned his head to look out the window. "I'm...not entirely sure that was me."

"Hmm? What do you mean?" She asked, lifting her head from his shoulder.

Rian sighed as he stared out at the fading storm. He could remember every second of the moment they’d almost lost him with perfect clarity, like it had been branded into his mind with a hot poker. He’d gone over it several times in the last few hours, and he found that there was an element that he couldn’t quite account for. An element that was both terrifying and astonishing, and the thought of what it implied made his flesh stand in goose pimples even now.

"I don't really know what I mean myself.” He said, trying to find the words. “But...I was doing everything I could think of to get him breathing, and none of it was working. I could feel him fading away right in my arms, and If I’m perfectly honest with myself, he probably shouldn’t be alive...but he is.” Rian shook his head. “I know how I must sound, but I can’t shake this feeling. It's like it just wasn't his time, like he’s meant to be here for some reason or other....It’s crazy though, isn’t it?” He said, giving her a sideways glance.

"It's not crazy at all.” Said Deet, to his surprise. “I think I know exactly what you mean. Ever since I found out I was carrying him, I had good feeling about the whole thing... I don’t know how to explain it either, but there’s something special about him.” She paused before adding, “Oh I know all mothers think their little ones are special, of course, but I think this is different. It’s like you said: I think he’s meant for something...”

Rian leaned in closer to her, relieved to find that he wasn’t alone in this. “Yes! And there was the lightening too...you felt it didn’t you? There was something strange about that too.”

"Maybe it was a sign? Like that Stonewood hero you told me about earlier-Oh!" her eyes lit up with the flame of an idea. "Rian what was his name? You know, the hero that was born under lightening? You never said."

"I didn't?" That was surprising to him. But then, he'd said and done a lot of things in the past hours, and he couldn’t remember specifics about most of them. "His name was Jarra-Jen."

She blinked for a moment, and he could tell that she was considering it carefully, turning it over in her mind, like a shell that she'd plucked from the seaside. 

She turned her attention back down to the sleeping bundle in her arms. "Jen..." she said softly, stroking a finger over his cheek. 

There was something about the way she said the name that Rian found pleasing to his ears. It seemed to suit the boy’s gentle features like a second skin, as if it was just as much a part of him as his pointed ears, or his upturned nose, almost like it had always been a part of him somehow. 

It just sounded...right.

Deet must have felt the same way, because after a thoughtful pause she gave a little nod of approval before turning back to Rian. "I rather like that."

He smiled. "You know, I do too."

"So...Jen then?"

"Jen it is."

She smiled then too, before she turned her attention back to their newly-named son. "Jen..." She cooed down at him like a dove. "It's mama..." 

At the sounds of her voice he began to stir around in her arms. “Oh- Rian look, he knows his name already!” she grabbed Rian's arm and shook it.

Rian laughed, both at her enthusiasm, and at their son’s apparent recognition of his name. But it seemed that Jen was only stirring in his sleep, he didn’t even open his eyes before letting out a little yawn and promptly getting back to sawing tiny logs.

Deet made a sound of adoration before bringing a hand up to her mouth to stifle a yawn of her own. Rian gave her shoulder a little squeeze of sympathy, of course she was tired. Rian felt totally spent himself from the events of the night, and he was only in a supporting role; he couldn’t even imagine how how exhausted she must be after pushing a baby out of her body on top of everything else.

"Why don't you try and get some sleep now, love? Thra knows you've earned it." He said.

She glanced down at her son hesitantly, biting her lip as she drew him a little closer to her. She hadn’t stopped holding him since Rian had first placed him in her arms hours ago, parting with him just long enough to allow Rian to cut the offending cord away. She was reluctant to let him go, and Rian didn't blame her for it a bit. It had been a long, and hard traveled road to get to him, especially for her.

"It's all right, he's safe with me.” he said to reassure her, before adding with a hint of teasing, "Besides, You've had him all to yourself for unums. It's time I got a chance to get acquainted with him."

She loosened her grip on the childling as a weary little smile passed over her face. "Suppose I have been a little greedy with him..." she said, passing him over to Rian.

"Not at all." he said as he accepted their son, pecking a kiss on the top of her head as he did so. 

She gave the childling one last pat of affection before slowly inching her body down the bedding to lie down, asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. 

Rian tucked the blanked up around her with one hand before he let his head rest back against the headboard. He shut his eyes and sighed as he idly bounced the childling- Jen, that was. Calling him by his name was going to take a little getting used to. 

It occurred to Rian then just how small Jen actually was, he felt light as a feather in his arms. Rian wasn’t sure exactly how much he weighed as they didn’t own a scale, but it had to be next to nothing. Strange how such a tiny little thing could cause such a large fuss...but he was worth it. Worth it all and more, and he was sure that Deet felt the same.

Presently, Rian began to feel the familiar sensation of being watched. He glanced down at the bundle in his arms and sure enough; there was a pair of dark, grottan eyes looking back at him, wide and curious. 

Rian felt his breath hitch as he saw them. He knew that look, Deet had a similar one in her matching eyes the night he’d first met her just outside Stone-in-the-Wood. He remembered thinking to himself after she’d sped away into the night that they were captivating-stunning even, though he didn't quite feel the full extent of what was to come then; that would grow as he came to know her. 

Now trine later, here were those same eyes again, meeting him for the first time and leaving him just as captivated and tongue-tied as the first time he’d seen them in this childling’s mother.

Rian's mouth hung open for a moment or two before he finally found his voice. “...Hi, Jen.” 

To Rian’s total astonishment, at the sound of his voice Jen rewarded him with a smile, tiny and toothless. He didn't think childlings that young were able to smile, but there it was plain as day, knocking the wind out of him far more than the storm ever did. He started to wake Deet so that she could see it too, but it was gone almost as soon as it came, like a flash of lightening, and Jen was drifting back to sleep with another tiny yawn. Rian smiled softly, and drew him up a little closer to himself, instinctively bouncing him to help lull him on his way.

Rian knew that he should probably try and get some sleep himself, especially if anything he'd heard about the erratic sleep schedule of newborns was true. But his ears were perked by the telltale chirp of birdsong outside, and he found that he could no longer hear any rain either. The first sun should be rising any moment now, And Rian found himself wanting to stay awake to see it, since it was their first sunrise as a proper family. 

As he watched the first rays of light streaming through the battered forest to light up the bedroom window, Rian hoped that it would be the first of many for Jen. Who knew, maybe Deet was right in her premonitions that their son was special, maybe Jen was meant for something important. Maybe he would even surpass his namesake in deed and strength someday. Only Thra itself knew what tomorrow would bring for Jen. But Rian didn’t care to think about tomorrow right now, not when the present was so perfect. 

It had been a very long night, but it was over at last, and the dawn was fast approaching.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Big thanks to everyone who subscribed and commented for supporting this story! I appreciate you guys, and be sure to keep an eye on “Does Anybody Have a Map” that one’s going to be expanding soon. 
> 
> Comments and kudos appreciated. Thanks for reading!! <3

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Apologies if I screwed up Jarra-jen's backstory, I haven't read any of the books so I'm going purely off the wiki. I'll try to get the next part up sometime next week but promising no concrete dates. Work and life and such-you know. Comments appreciated, Happy shipping!!!


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